Microsoft recently ‘updated’ its lists of Windows 11 supported processors, but for Intel CPUs, the company chose to list CPU series as opposed to each processor, which is very confusing. For example, it lists the Celeron series being supported when in fact only one out of ten of that series is supported – the Celeron 3867U. What baffles most people is that CPUs such as the mighty Intel 10th Gen Core i9-10900K 10-core processor, launched in April 2020, was omitted from the original list (it’s compatible), yet many humble Celerons remained compatible. The same goes for Intel 7th Gen Kaby Lake processors, which are deemed incompatible by Microsoft. Perfectly good CPUs deemed ready for the scrap heap!
Moving on to the list of compatible AMD processors, it’s quite clear that the list has not been updated recently because my CPU, a Ryzen 7 5700X3D, launched in January 2024, doesn’t make the list, but the Ryzen 5800X3D does. What the…?
Since no date is shown on these lists, it’s impossible to see when they were last updated, so in the end, PC builders and others will find alternative means to force Windows 11 to install on so-called incompatible processors. Back in June this year, I wrote about the AMD Athlon 3000G in The Lunacy Of Windows 11 CPU Restrictions where the Picasso version of that CPU is compatible, but the Raven Ridge version isn’t. There’s barely any difference between the two, except for the die size, so one has to wonder what the criteria are, if any. Or maybe some clown at Microsoft is throwing darts at a pie chart hung from the wall?
Savvy PC users know how to get around these insane restrictions and laugh in the face of Microsoft, a company that itself once issued instructions on how to bypass (since deleted) the very restrictions it created. One has to wonder who at Microsoft is making all these arbitrary decisions, not to mention the constant name changes of its products – Hotmail, Outlook, Office 365… don’t get me started!
—
